The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Lamar
Blazers Split Season-Opening Doubleheader at Lamar Invitational
8/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Marist Final Stats
Lamar Box Score
Lamar Final Stats
Aug. 28, 2015
BEAUMONT, Texas -- The UAB volleyball team opened the Lamar Invitational with a three-set sweep over Marist before dropping a 3-0 decision to the tournament host Cardinals to kick off the 2015 season.
Junior Gabby Deshotel led the UAB offense with 30 kills and a .222 attack percentage through the two matches as well as two serving aces and 19 digs.
Deshotel picked up her first double-double of the season against Marist with 18 kills and 12 digs.
Sophomore Haley Jared added 19 kills and 15 digs over the two matches while libero Emma Schroer picked up 30 digs, seven serving aces and one kill.
Setter Amber Treace led the team in assists with 68 between the two matches. Treace added 10 digs and two kills.
Match One - Marist (W, 3-0)
Deshotel led the UAB offense with 18 kills and a .586 hitting percentage. Deshotel was one of three Blazers to rack up double-digit digs with 12. Jared and Schroer accounted for 10 and a team-leading 15 digs, respectively.
Schroer added six aces to pace the Blazers and one kill to her match one totals. Jared added nine kills with redshirt freshman Young closely following with eight. Young finished with a .533 hit percentage.
At setter, Treace added to the Blazer offense with two kills and garnered 36 assists in the three-set match.
The Blazers set the tone from the first serve with an 8-0 run in the early stages of the first set to take a 10-3 lead. UAB would lead by as much as 14 before Schroer delivered the set-winning ace (25-12).
Marist would bounce back in set two by taking a 2-0 early, but would give way to a back-and-forth battle that saw four lead changes.
The Blazers and Red Foxes were locks at 23-all before a service on Marist gave the Blazers the set point. Young capitalized with a kill to give UAB a two-set advantage (25-23).
The final set was just as competitive with seven ties within the set. At 25-24, Marist was looking at set point, but the Blazers kill it off with a kill from Deshotel. Deshotel follow back with a second kill to give the Blazers match point.
The Blazers took the definitive set three, 27-25, on an attack error by Marist' Courtney Shaw
Match Two -- Lamar (L, 0-3)
Three Blazers finishes in double-digit kills, but Lamar claimed a three-set victory in the night cap of the Lamar Invitational.
Deshotel led the UAB with 12 kills with Jared and junior Amy Hunter picking up 10 kills each. Treace paced the Blazers with 32 assists in the match while Schroer tallied a team-leading 15 digs.
The Cardinals and the Blazers traded a tight first set that saw UAB out kill Lamar 10 to 12. Lamar capitalized on Blazers errors to squeak out a 25-22 set one victory.
Set two saw the Cardinals offense take control early with a 16-7 advantage, but the Blazer offense battled back. UAB used three-straight kills to cut into the Cardinals lead.
The Green and Gold's late push was not enough as Lamar took set two by a 25-17 final.
In a must-win set three, the Blazers and Cardinals tied in attack percentage in another nail-biting finish. Neither squad stretch a lead over three points, but a service error on the Blazers provided a 25-23 win for the Cardinals to secure the match win.
The Blazers will return to McDonald Gym on Saturday, August 29 to close out the Lamar Invitational with Texas Southern. Tomorrow's match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
For more information on the UAB volleyball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UAB_VB). For more on all Blazer sports teams follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
